A little more than a year after Frontier Communications Corp. acquired Verizon's Northwest operations, the Connecticut company has taken concrete steps to improve customer service and bring high-speed Internet service to Oregon's rural communities.

But suburban customers are walking away from Frontier's high-end services -- cable TV, and super-fast Internet access delivered over fiber-optic lines. And Frontier is delivering mixed results, both to its customers and the investment community.

The company's stock dipped 2 percent Wednesday after Frontier announced lower sales and profits, despite its forecast of greater-than-expected cost savings connected to the Verizon deal.

FiOS TV is still available in Beaverton, Hillsboro, Gresham and all the other markets where Verizon brought high-capacity fiber-optic cables directly to customers' homes, before selling that business to Frontier.

But customers may be losing interest. When Frontier announced second-quarter financial results Wednesday, it reported that it shed 14,000 of its 112,000 FiOS TV customers in the three states where FiOS is available -- Oregon, Washington and Indiana.

"They would love to get rid of the FiOS TV customers," said Donna Jaegers, who follows Frontier for D.A. Davidson. "They're programming costs are very high compared to the rates that they charge."

Frontier insists that it's committed to offering video to its customers, but its long-term strategy isn't clear.

The company has been offering free DirecTV subscriptions for the rest of this year to customers who switch from FiOS. On Wednesday, though, the company said it will begin a partnership with satellite provider Dish Network, gradually shifting away from DirecTV.

A hangover from Frontier's FiOS TV exit is affecting its Internet service, too, Jaegers said -- which is often bundled in a promotional package with TV service.

So while Frontier's high-speed DSL business is growing rapidly in small markets, the company lost 5,000 FiOS broadband customers last quarter.

"They did such a ham-handed job of pushing people off TV that now people are just going to Comcast for everything, I think," Jaegers said.

Frontier's fiber network is "underutilized," Gaffga acknowledged Tuesday. But he reaffirmed the company's unequivocal commitment to maintaining the fiber network.

"Without a doubt," Gaffga said, "that's the crown jewel of our assets. I couldn't be more clear about that."